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第56章

the magic skin-第56章

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upright position; forming a second elbow which connected it with the

first horizontal pipe in such a manner that the air; or any given

fluid in circulation; could flow through this improvised piece of

mechanism from the mouth of the vertical tube; along the intermediate

passages; and so into the large empty flower…pot。



〃This apparatus; sir;〃 he said to Raphael; with all the gravity of an

academician pronouncing his initiatory discourse; 〃is one of the great

Pascal's grandest claims upon our admiration。〃



〃I don't understand。〃



The man of science smiled。 He went up to a fruit…tree and took down a

little phial in which the druggist had sent him some liquid for

catching ants; he broke off the bottom and made a funnel of the top;

carefully fitting it to the mouth of the vertical hollowed stem that

he had set in the clay; and at the opposite end to the great

reservoir; represented by the flower…pot。 Next; by means of a

watering…pot; he poured in sufficient water to rise to the same level

in the large vessel and in the tiny circular funnel at the end of the

elder stem。



Raphael was thinking of his piece of skin。



〃Water is considered to…day; sir; to be an incompressible body;〃 said

the mechanician; 〃never lose sight of that fundamental principle;

still it can be compressed; though only so very slightly that we

should regard its faculty for contracting as a zero。 You see the

amount of surface presented by the water at the brim of the flower…

pot?〃



〃Yes; sir。〃



〃Very good; now suppose that that surface is a thousand times larger

than the orifice of the elder stem through which I poured the liquid。

Here; I am taking the funnel away〃



〃Granted。〃



〃Well; then; if by any method whatever I increase the volume of that

quantity of water by pouring in yet more through the mouth of the

little tube; the water thus compelled to flow downwards would rise in

the reservoir; represented by the flower…pot; until it reached the

same level at either end。〃



〃That is quite clear;〃 cried Raphael。



〃But there is this difference;〃 the other went on。 〃Suppose that the

thin column of water poured into the little vertical tube there exerts

a force equal; say; to a pound weight; for instance; its action will

be punctually communicated to the great body of the liquid; and will

be transmitted to every part of the surface represented by the water

in the flower…pot so that at the surface there will be a thousand

columns of water; every one pressing upwards as if they were impelled

by a force equal to that which compels the liquid to descend in the

vertical tube; and of necessity they reproduce here;〃 said Planchette;

indicating to Raphael the top of the flower…pot; 〃the force introduced

over there; a thousand…fold;〃 and the man of science pointed out to

the marquis the upright wooden pipe set in the clay。



〃That is quite simple;〃 said Raphael。



Planchette smiled again。



〃In other words;〃 he went on; with the mathematician's natural

stubborn propensity for logic; 〃in order to resist the force of the

incoming water; it would be necessary to exert; upon every part of the

large surface; a force equal to that brought into action in the

vertical column; but with this differenceif the column of liquid is

a foot in height; the thousand little columns of the wide surface will

only have a very slight elevating power。



〃Now;〃 said Planchette; as he gave a fillip to his bits of stick; 〃let

us replace this funny little apparatus by steel tubes of suitable

strength and dimensions; and if you cover the liquid surface of the

reservoir with a strong sliding plate of metal; and if to this metal

plate you oppose another; solid enough and strong enough to resist any

test; if; furthermore; you give me the power of continually adding

water to the volume of liquid contents by means of the little vertical

tube; the object fixed between the two solid metal plates must of

necessity yield to the tremendous crushing force which indefinitely

compresses it。 The method of continually pouring in water through a

little tube; like the manner of communicating force through the volume

of the liquid to a small metal plate; is an absurdly primitive

mechanical device。 A brace of pistons and a few valves would do it

all。 Do you perceive; my dear sir;〃 he said taking Valentin by the

arm; 〃there is scarcely a substance in existence that would not be

compelled to dilate when fixed in between these two indefinitely

resisting surfaces?〃



〃What! the author of the Lettres provinciales invented it?〃 Raphael

exclaimed。



〃He and no other; sir。 The science of mechanics knows no simpler nor

more beautiful contrivance。 The opposite principle; the capacity of

expansion possessed by water; has brought the steam…engine into being。

But water will only expand up to a certain point; while its

incompressibility; being a force in a manner negative; is; of

necessity; infinite。〃



〃If this skin is expanded;〃 said Raphael; 〃I promise you to erect a

colossal statue to Blaise Pascal; to found a prize of a hundred

thousand francs to be offered every ten years for the solution of the

grandest problem of mechanical science effected during the interval;

to find dowries for all your cousins and second cousins; and finally

to build an asylum on purpose for impoverished or insane

mathematicians。〃



〃That would be exceedingly useful;〃 Planchette replied。 〃We will go to

Spieghalter to…morrow; sir;〃 he continued; with the serenity of a man

living on a plane wholly intellectual。 〃That distinguished mechanic

has just completed; after my own designs; an improved mechanical

arrangement by which a child could get a thousand trusses of hay

inside his cap。〃



〃Then good…bye till to…morrow。〃



〃Till to…morrow; sir。〃



〃Talk of mechanics!〃 cried Raphael; 〃isn't it the greatest of the

sciences? The other fellow with his onagers; classifications; ducks;

and species; and his phials full of bottled monstrosities; is at best

only fit for a billiard…marker in a saloon。〃



The next morning Raphael went off in great spirits to find Planchette;

and together they set out for the Rue de la Santeauspicious

appellation! Arrived at Spieghalter's; the young man found himself in

a vast foundry; his eyes lighted upon a multitude of glowing and

roaring furnaces。 There was a storm of sparks; a deluge of nails; an

ocean of pistons; vices; levers; valves; girders; files; and nuts; a

sea of melted metal; baulks of timber and bar…steel。 Iron filings

filled your throat。 There was iron in the atmosphere; the men were

covered with it; everything reeked of iron。 The iron seemed to be a

living organism; it became a fluid; moved; and seemed to shape itself

intelligently after every fashion; to obey the worker's every caprice。

Through the uproar made by the bellows; the crescendo of the falling

hammers; and the shrill sounds of the lathes that drew groans from the

steel; Raphael passed into a large; clean; and airy place where he was

able to inspect at his leisure the great press that Planchette had

told him about。 He admired the cast…iron beams; as one might call

them; and the twin bars of steel coupled together with indestructible

bolts。



〃If you were to give seven rapid turns to that crank;〃 said

Spieghalter; pointing out a beam of polished steel; 〃you would make a

steel bar spurt out in thousands of jets; that would get into your

legs like needles。〃



〃The deuce!〃 exclaimed Raphael。



Planchette himself slipped the piece of skin between the metal plates

of the all…powerful press; and; brimful of the certainty of a

scientific conviction; he worked the crank energetically。



〃Lie flat; all of you; we are dead men!〃 thundered Spieghalter; as he

himself fell prone on the floor。



A hideous shrieking sound rang through the workshops。 The water in the

machine had broken the chamber; and now spouted out in a jet of

incalculabl

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